Even though Japanese people have the longest average lifespan, we always have huge fitness booms and food crazes. The worst one was the Natto boom of 2007. People bought up Natto like crazy and Natto all but disappeared from the market shelves for a while. So Natto manufacturers hired more people and produced more and more Natto to keep up with the craze. However, it then became known that some of the beneficial qualities of Natto were fabricated by a TV show. Of course, the TV show got cancelled, but many manufacturers were still annoyed by the fact that they were plagued with excess production and workers. I remember that a mountain of half-priced Natto suddenly became available in supermarkets. Now we have a new food craze, the boom was started by this book: 'Morning Banana Diet'. You can lose weight by eating bananas for breakfast. Here are the rules of the Banana Diet:Banana diet.

Eat Bananas for breakfast. You can eat as many Bananas and drink as much water as you want.If you want to eat or drink something else, do it 15-30 minutes after you eat a banana.If you don't want Bananas, you can pick another fruit. You can eat anything for lunch or dinner, but you should eat dinner before 7pm.The point is to eat the same fruit and only the same fruit at breakfast.One big Japanese singer said she lost 7 kg very quickly on this diet. And there is a banana diet group on the Japanese SNS site Mixi, where many people said that they lost weight. Since I haven't tried it yet, I can't tell whether it will work or not, but since I love Bananas, I could do it easily.

As of this year, you can't buy tobacco from vending machines without a Taspo card (an ID card that prevents teenagers from buying cigarettes). However, many people didn't register and haven't gotten Taspo cards yet. Actually, I read that only 30% of smokers got the card. Then, a manufacturer produced another type of tobacco vending machine that uses face authentication instead of Taspo cards. You face a small mirror on the machine and the machine judges whether you are old enough by examining wrinkles and face shape. (I am not sure why they use that young lady as a model. You think she is over 20 or not?). Last week, one high school student bought a box of cigarettes from that type of vending machine. He was caught and when the police questioned him, he said he was able to bypass the machine's system by making a squinty face. He made wrinkles on purpose! :-). Hmm, it's a useless machine, but I think we should just not use vending machines to sell tobacco. That is the best way.

So, I think my Mod Podge filing cabinet turned out pretty good. And you know, it has helped me keep better organized. Maybe those irrational longings aren't so absurd after all. Maybe acquiring fancy stuff can solve all our problems. Who am I to say it can't? Later folks, I'm off to Barneys for a new clutch.

Your goals are different if you're trying to lose weight that just manage or maintain a certain weight. A good program will have two different aspects to address each phase - loss and maintenance. I always look for those features of any 'diet' before I'll endorse it.

There was just an article about the science behind the Morning Banana Diet in Women’s World magazine in the USA. They said that bananas help people lose weight because they contain resistant starch, which ferments in your large intestine, creating by-products that block conversion of some carbohydrates into fuel, so they can boost fat burning. And banana fiber bulks up in your stomach, so you feel full for longer. There’s also some good info at http://www.dolenutrition.com/bananadiet/bananadiet.htm

Yes.. the milk caramel that results from boiling condensed milk is "dulce de leche" and it is popular not only in Mexico but all around Latin America. BTW, Haaagen-Dazs has a great "dulce de leche" ice cream! Here is a link to this product:

Oh my!
Who has time to count the number of corn on the cob? Also the corn silk strings?????
That is just CRAZY!
I wont say "fuuun" I will say "duuuuumb"

Personally, I think the "diet booms" in japan are paid for by the companies. It may be urabanashi 裏話 but I think maybe Dole (fruit maker) maybe helped to write the banana diet book. just im suspicious.

I saw a Youtube video a couple of weeks ago about a guy born in the US but living in Japan. Anyway, despite being in his 40s or so he can't use those cigarette machines with face recognition, they think he is too young. Perhaps they never tested the face recognition system on the faces of non-Japanese people.